Bahrain is planning for a 2024 startup for an upgraded and expanded Sitra refinery that will allow its sole processing facility to handle new crudes, including heavier grades, as it seeks to monetize the lower end of the barrel, an official told S&P Global Platts.

The refinery currently processes domestic Bahrain crude and Arab Light and Arab Medium that is piped from Saudi Arabia, which shares the offshore Abu Safah field with Bahrain. The startup of the $7 billion upgrade and expansion of Sitra has been pushed back to 2024 due to labor shortage resulting from COVID-19 delays, Mark Thomas, the CEO of state-owned energy company Nogaholding said in an interview.

The expansion will increase Sitra’s processing capacity to about 370,000-380,000 b/d from 270,000-280,000 b/d, Thomas said. “With all the processing, it basically gives us a better product cut on that back end of the refinery.” Nogaholding expects potential new crudes from an offshore oil discovery to be of the heavier grade, which would help boost the refinery’s feedstock.

Source Credit: S & P Global